Sake
by Dawn of Daybreak
Summary: Naruto returns from a mission in Rice Country with a gift for Tsunade. Naruto x Tsunade Fluff. 20 Reviews gets you a sequel. 2,000 hits! Interpret the story as you like, meant to be open ended. A/N: 20 Reviews. I am working on the sequel...slowly


Title: Sake

Author: Ignorant One

Words: 1,653

Description: Naruto returns from a mission in Rice country, and brings Tsunade back a gift. Fluff.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Me no own…

**This story was written for Metal Chick Crisis 2040, why? Because she requested it, and because I like to procrastinate on homework. Enjoy. (:3**

The comical blond pair found themselves nose to nose.

"And just what do you think you are doing in here, Gaki!? I was actually on a roll with this never-ending chain of paperwork…that was until you showed your sunny cranium into my office!"

"Oh yeah, Baa-chan!?-" Naruto sighed, and forced himself to relax. "I just came back from my mission, and I thought that you of all people would like to know that I came back safe from Rice country..." The blond nin folded his arms across his chest and stared at a painting on the opposite wall, a slight pout across his features.

Naruto felt his spirits lighten as a small smile graced the full lips of the acting Hokage; Naruto made it his mission to turn any frown upside down. With a sigh, Tsunade retook her once vacant seat and once again began to look over the papers that were hiding the surface of her cherry wood desk from view.

"Is that all?" she asked, slowly arching a groomed brow. "Cause if it is, I want you to sit," the pony-tailed Hokage gestured to a heavy leather chair tucked non-chalantly in the corner, "and make your verbal report immediately."

A nervous smile graced Naruto's face as he scratched the back of his head, "Well..." the younger blond of the pair drawled out, "I really didn't come out here to-"

"Well that figures." Tsunade interrupted as she stood once more, crossing her hands in front of her, leaning forward across the desk. Despite the fact that Naruto claimed he was anti-pervert, he couldn't help but notice that her arms pushed her breast together; accentuating her already noticeable anatomy.

"So why are you here." she stated, her hazel eyes softly searching his own cerulean orbs.

Naruto held up his hands in a defeated manner, quickly waving them in front of his chest. "Mate', mate', I'm getting to that-"

A bored expression flashed across the active Hokage's soft features. "So why are you here, Gaki?"

The granddaughter of the Shodaime couldn't help but smile and suppress a bout of soft laughter as a the younger blond in front of her became frustrated, his body posture flickered from anger, to disdain, and finally to defeat; which was characterized by his hanging head and slumped shoulders.

Naruto gave up, and pulled off the pack from his back, and after rummaging around for a few moments, he produced what looked to be a very expensive tiger wood case, complete with a shiny lacquer, and the kanji for "Okayama" skillfully carved into the front.

"I came to give you this."

The princess stared at him in disbelief as he opened the casing, giving her a full view of two transparent glass bottles. One bottle was of a blue hue, and the other, a Smokey caramel. Hesitant, she slowly traced her fingers across the Kanji etched into the colored glass bottles; one read 'Ice 78', and the other read 'Hickory 81'. The descriptions hinted at the flavors, and the numbers were how long they were distilled for.

Tsunade looked up at her almost otou, "Are these really?"

A proud smile crept its way onto Naruto's face. Yup, Okayama sake. Famous throughout Rice Country, and the world for having the best sake and is revered for its old, traditional style of brewing. This brand was so expensive, and so rare, that prices for it were sky-high, even the greatest sake enthusiast could only dream of coming with fifteen feet of a bottle; much less hold one in their hands.

Hell, even the Emperor of Fire Country had to come in person to obtain a bottle, it was that expensive. And as part of quality control, the minimum sales age of sake of this caliber was thirty years, and not a day younger.

On top of all of this, it would cost Tsunade her entire yearly salary for even a half-liter of this legendary alcohol, yet in his hands sat two one-liter bottles; not to mention still in their vintage tiger wood casing.

The Godaime was in awe. "Naruto...how did you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment; sure this sake looked expensive, but was it really that awe inspiring? To the young blond, sake is sake is sake; they all taste similar and they all get you drunk, what made this particular brand any different from the others? Even though it didn't quite click in his mind, Naruto's first clue should have been the fact nearly every man or woman who saw him with the case tried to kill him...but like every other small detail, that too slipped his mind; filed under 'Find Out Significance at a Later Date'.

Naruto finally spoke up, "Well, yanno, my usual deal. Stop for a rest at the local sake brewery, thwart a robbery, befriend the owner and family, and find myself arranged to marry yet another pretty girl...the usual stuff."

Tsunade stared at Naruto in disbelief. "What was the man's name?"

Naruto closed the case up, and locked it before handing it to Tsunade. To the blond Hokage, it was like having heaven handed to you on a silver platter, she gingerly placed the sake laden container on her desk before returning her gaze to the young man in front of her desk.

Hands free from super expensive-wait, scratch that, INSANELY expensive sake, he tapped his chin in thought, blond brows furrowed in concentration below the black cloth of his forehead protector. "Ummm...Okayama Sanyo I believe...and his daughter..." Naruto let out a near silent lecherous giggle, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Hokage, before continuing. "Okayama Achika..."

Ugh, next time she caught sight of Jiraiya, she was going to beat the hell out of him for having his perverseness rub off onto her little brother. But she let it slide for now, because her suspicions were confirmed, this WAS the sake of drinking legend; and the name of the Great, great grandson of the founder of the Okayama sake proved it.

"Did you know, Naruto, that it would cost me a full year's salary to get my hands on even a half-liter of this…. this ambrosia (1)?"

Naruto's eyes bugged out of his head...and to think that he had considered giving the stuff away...

Against her better judgment, she handed the box back to the hyperactive ninja...it was killing her to do this...but she couldn't...she wouldn't take something like this...

All of her fears and doubts were laid to rest as he set the tiger wood box in front of her. "Think of this as payment...for assuming the role of Hokage...when no one else would. I owe you that much, don't I?"

Tsunade saw the younger blonde's cerulean orbs sparkle in conjunction with an embarrassed smile. His expression changed with the next statement. "Besides, if you don't accept, I could always give the stuff to that old pervert. No doubt that he would put it to good use."

Good use her ass. That damned pervert would sell the stuff, and purchase his own little harem, and would have plenty of money left over to get drunk and 'research' for his next ludicrous 'novel'.

Naruto reached for the box, but his hand was promptly slapped away by Tsunade; a playful smirk across her face, but her hazel eyes shimmered. Naruto smiled. The Hokage looked at the young man in front of her, tears welling up in her eyes. No one besides her grandfather had given something to her as a gift for a long time...and to think that the tiger wood box she held to her breast contained two bottles of the finest sake in the world. It was overwhelming how self-less the blond knuckle head could be...

"Naruto, I don't know how I could ever thank you." A single tear traveled down her face as she closed her eyes, but what happened next came as a surprise.

She felt a pair of warm lips against her forehead, and a strong pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, pushing her face into a well muscled chest. A soft sob escaped from her lips as she wrapped her arms around his mid-section. "Shhhh..." his warm voice cooed, all the while strong hands gently stroked her hair "please, don't cry. You know I hate it when women cry."

He held her for a couple more minutes before breaking away to look into her eyes. Naruto wiped away her tears with this wrist. "Look at you," he said, wiping a tear from his own eye "your a mess! Your eyes are puffy, your nose is running, and I think your age reversal jutsu is failing. But I wouldn't have you any other way. Have a nice day, Tsunade-chan."

With that he placed another kiss on her forehead, before disappearing in a poof of smoke, no doubt one of the techniques he learned from Yamato-taicho. Tsunade smiled, a warm fuzzy feeling crept across her belly and wrapped around her heart.

The Hokage touched her forehead, all of the memories of when they first met flashed through her mind...and the she punched out a window, causing the ANBU listening in on the conversation to scatter to the four winds.

"DAMNIT NARUTO! THIS ISN'T A JUTSU!"

A/N: OMG! This is like the best I have ever written before! Hell! Its even un-beta'd!!! I hope ya'll enjoyed this, because I had fun writing it! Also, I am taking requests, like this story for example.

(1). Ambrosia is the "Nectar of the Gods"….for you people who never paid attention in your 9th grade English classes.

IO


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